Ryan Donaldson tipping Cambridge United to learn fast in Sky Bet Football League

Ryan Donaldson is confident Cambridge United will keep learning and improving as the big games keep coming following their return to the Sky Bet Football League.

The midfielder equalised for the U’s as they went close to causing a Capital One Cup upset at Championship side Birmingham City on Tuesday night, before two extra-time goals earned Lee Clark’s Blues a 3-1 win in the first round.

And Donaldson, who wrote his name in United folklore with a brace in the FA Trophy final and a fine set-piece strike in the Conference Premier play-off final at Wembley last season, believes the team will continue to build on the cup showing and Saturday’s 1-0 win over Plymouth.

“In the second half I think it was an even game and we created the better chances,” said Donaldson. “It was just about taking one and we couldn’t do it, but we’ll learn and we’ll move forward.

“We went there and gave them a real scare, I think. We were disappointed to lose but there were a lot of positives to take from the night, definitely.

“There’s no option – we have to learn quick.

“You’ve got to step up and if you stand still then you’ll end up going backwards. We’ve got to move forward and I think we’re doing a good job at the minute.

“We worked hard in pre-season and we’ve got to keep improving and keep working hard to get where we want to go.”

Donaldson was delighted to get his first goal of the campaign at St Andrew’s, and he would have been even happier had it helped the U’s send the club and their 1,064 travelling supporters into the second round.

“It was nice to open my account early doors and it was a nice one, and a pretty good stadium to do it at,” said Donaldson.

“It’s a big stadium and our fans made noise all the way through. They’re the games you want to play in.

“To come all that way on a Tuesday night is fantastic. We tried to get the win for them but we just couldn’t do it.”